Gas-generating apparatus.



PATENTBD JULY 11, 1905.

. L. GUENOT, FILS. GAS GENERATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED KAY 12, 1904.

ft l I.

E r m U ITED STATES Patented July 11, 1905.

LOUIS GUENOT, FILS, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

GAS-GENERATING APPARATUS.

SPEGIFICATION frming' part of Letters Patent No. 794,498, dated July 11,1905.

Application filed May 12, 1904. Serial No. 207,709.

To all whom/ it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Lotus GUnNoT, Fils, a

citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Paris, France, haveinvented -certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-GeneratingApparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

This invention relates to gasogenes; and the present invention, whichhas for its object to I remedy all the inconveniences of prior devicesof this nature, consists in the general arrangement of the gasometer andthe novel construction, combination, and adaption of parts, all as morefully hereinafter described, claimed,

5 and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

in which Figure 1 is a vertical section of the improved device. Fig. 2shows in elevation the details of the temperature-regulator.

A cupola 1, of fireproof masonry inclosed by a casing 2, is provided atits lower part with a grate 3, which is constantly cooled by a basin 4,filled with water. The fuel, which may be of any kind, is put on thegrate through 5 the door 5. Two other doors 6 and 7 serve the first toextract the slack and the second the ashes. The doors and the top of theeasing have a tight'closure. The air which is necessary for thecombustion enters through 30. the necks 8 and 9 and the burned gasesescape in the stack 10 through the neck 11 after having traversed afirst layer 12 of fireproof bricks, which layer is designated assuperheaters, and a second layer 13 of pieces of 35 iron or castingsforming a steam-generator. The water is supplied through a funnel 14,which is twice bent and fixed on the top of the casing. The gas producedpasses into a gasometer 15 through the neck 16, after hav- 4 ingtraversed a receptacle 17, having a hydraulic joint.

Each of the necks 8, 9, and 11 is provided with a valve 18, having abell 19 and a hydraulic joint. The three bells 19 are fixed by 45 meansof rods on a movable frame 20, suspended to one extremity of a beam 21,oscillating on the pivot 22. This beam bears at its other extremity acounterpoise 23 for equilibrium and a little receptacle 24, which 5communicates by a flexible pipe 25 with another small receptacle 26,disposed on the bell of the gasometer. This latter receptacle is filledwith water when the bell is at the lower point of its stroke.

A conduit 27, connected with a suitable source of supply, is providedwith a cock 28, which is guided by the beam 21, and the draft of thestack is regulated by the throttle-valve 29, actuated by a regulator oftemperature, which is hereinafter described.

The apparatus operates as follows: The cupola being filled with ignitedfuel and the apparatus being very hot by any well-known Way, the beam isbrought in the position shown in Fig. 1. The bells 19 of the valvesdescend into the water and the water-cock 28 is opened, the said bellsinitially closed before making the run, in any suitable manner. They areentirely closed against the admission of air before making the run, inany suitable manner. They are entirely closed against the admission ofair before the water is introduced into the generator. The water fiowsthrough the funnel-pipe 14 and drops on the pieces of iron of thesteam-generator, where it is transformed into steam. This steam descendsacross the layer 12 of the superheater and reaches aver y hightemperature by the contact of the fuel traversed by it. The steam isdecomposed by the coal, the hydrogen remains free, and the oxygen uniteswith the coal to form carbon monoxid. The mixture of these gasestraverses the grate and passes into the gasometer 15 through the neck 16and the trapped receptacle 17 The bell of the gasometer arises rapidlywith the little receptacle filled with water, and when the bell isalmost at the highest point of its stroke the level of the water in thereceptacle 26 is higher than the bottom of the receptacle 24, suspendedon the beam. The water passes then through the flexible pipe 25 from onereceptacle to the other, and the bell continues to rise until the momentwhere the receptacle has acquired a sufficient weight for tilting thebeam on its pivot, thus actuating the frame 20, which bears the bells19. The beam stops only when the bells are out of water and impingeagainst the top of their boxes. Then the receptacle 24 takes theposition II. In this new position of the beam the cook 28 is closed andno water allowed to flow into the apparatus. The outer air arrives nowunder the grate by the neck 8 and determines the combustion of the coal;but by reason of the thickness of the layer of fuel the gases ofcombustion contain besides the carbonic acid a certain quantity ofcarbon monoxid. A corresponding quantity of air, which may be regulatedat will,arrives through the neck 9 above the layer of combustible fueland brings about the transformation of this carbon monoxid into carbonicacid. The gases of combustion give their heat to the superheater 12 andthen to the steam-generator 13. They escape almost cold into the stack.During the period of warming, while no water-gas is produced, the bellof the gasometer 15 descends in correspondence with the consumption.When the bell is almost at the end of its stroke, the bottom of thereceptacle 26 becomes lower than the level of the water in thereceptacle 2 1, situated at 11. The water passes thus in the receptacle26, which continues to lower with the bell till the moment where theequilibrium of the beam 21 is broken up by the elevation of thereceptacle 24:. The beam recovers then its first position, thereceptacle rises to the position I, the bells 19 are lowered with theframe and descend again into the water, the cook 28 is opened andpermits the water to flow, and the production of gas begins again. Thetilting movements of the beam are thus automatically produced so long asfuel is on the grate and gas is taken from the gasometer.

For facilitating the inversions and for decreasing the weight of theWater which must pass from one receptacle to the other the bells and thevalves may be balanced in the following manner: The sum of the surfacesof the bottoms of the two air-bells is equal to the surface of thebottom of the smoke-outlet bell. On the other hand, the gas contained inthe apparatus during the period of production presses from top to bottomon the two first bells and from bottom to top on the third bell. Thestrains due to the pressure of the gas on these bells are equal andopposed. They compensate naturally one the other, because the threebells are fixed on the same frame 20. This arrangement insures that thebeam, being itself balanced by means of a counterpoise 23, may enter inmotion by the fact that two or three liters of water pass from onereceptacle into the other. The weight of the bell of the gasometervaries thus very little, and the pressure of gas is consequentlysensibly constant. If during the working of the apparatus much gas isconsumed, the rising of the bell of the gasometer 15 is slow and itsdescent is rapid. If, on the contrary, little gas is consumed, therising of the bell is rapid and its descent is slow. Finally, ifoverconsumption is begun one of the two following facts will beproduced: (a) If the arrest takes place during the period of heating,the bell 15 stops simply in its descending movement. (blIf the arresttakes place during the period of the production of gas, the bellcontinues to arise, the inversion is produced, and the bell remainslifted until the moment where consumption of gas begins. During thisperiod the apparatus is heated again. It will be seen that never asurproduction of gas can exist. the gas being only produced according tothe con sumption. To obviate this inconvenience,the throttle-valve 29 inthe stack is actuated by a suitable regulator, one form of which isshown in Fig. 2. A minuscula gasometer 30, containing, for instance,about two or three liters of gas, is disposed near the stack of thegasometer and receives some gas by a very small pipe 31. This gas passesin a bulb 33, bent at right angles, and its inferior part, filled withmercury, extends into the stack 10.

A pipe 34, which passes through a plug fixed in the bulb or vial 33,touches by its inferior extremity, which is beveled, the mercury. Thispipe has on its other extremity a little burner serving as a test. Thesection of these pipes is such that all the gas flowing into the,

little gasometer, on the normal working of the apparatus, may easily beemitted by the burner 35. The bell 30 regulates by adevice of any kind,similar to the device represented, for instance, in Fig. 2, thethrottle-valve 29, so that it is opened largely when the bell is belowand completely closed when it is above its stroke. Normally thetest-burner burning all the gas brought by the neck 31, the bell remainsimmobile and the valve 30 opened; but if the temperature increases inthe stack of the apparatus the mercury on dilating rises in the verticalpart of the bulb 33 and obstructs partly the inferior opening of thepipe 34. The gas being no more able to escape through this pipe iscompressed in the bell, which then rises and closes the throttle-valve29. tem pcrature continues to increase in the stack, the bell risesuntil the throttle-valve 29 is entirely closed. The gas escapes thenthrough a pipe 36, the inferior part of which is brought out of waterwhen the bell is above its stroke, and this gas is ignited on thetest-burner 35 till the temperature is decreasing in the stack and themercury is descending again in the vertical part of the bulb. The gascan againescape through the pipe 34:. When the bell 2O descends, theinferior part of the pipe 35 dips in the. water, the gas turns on theburner 35, and the throttle-valve 29 opens again. In order that thetest-burner shall not burn entirely extinct, a hole 37, bored in thepipe 34, permits at all times the gas to pass sufficiently to light theburner as a night-lamp. It will be seen that it is easy to regulate atwill the temperature to be obtained in the stack by opening more or lessacock placed in the pipe 31. The heating of the cupola is thus auto Ifthe IIO matically arrested at the required time by any consumption ofgas, and by this fact the gasometer consumes only fuel in proportion tothe gas produced.

To the gasogene above described, may be joined water-inlets for thereplacing of the Water cooperated during the working of the apparatus inthe vessel of the valve of outlet of smoke and in the basin placed underthe grate. To this apparatus may also be joined, if it is desirable, allthe appropriated devices of washing, apuration, carburation, andodorization.

The horizontal grate can be replaced by an inclined one easier to clean.also be provided with a hopper containing a large quantity of fuel, sothat packings are less often required and that the fuel on descendingslowly from the hopper on the inclined grate will replace the fuelburned and that a thickness of fuel nearly constant will be maintainedon the grate.

What is claimed as new is- 1. A gasogene for the fabrication ofwatergas, comprising a cupola, a grate 3 for the fuel, a first layer offireproof material 12 situated above the grate, and a second layer ofiron, forming a steam-generator, this second layer being situated nearthe upper end of the cupola, the stack 10, the neck 11, the

necks 8 and 9, a gasometer 15, for receiving the gas, a receptacle 26,containing water, a

receptacle 24, a flexible pipe 25 connecting said receptacles, a beam21, a frame 20 supported from the other extremity of said beam, threebells 19 suspended from said frame and which can be shifted and whichform parts of the valves 18 with hydraulic joint, near the necks 8, 9and 11, constructed to cause the automatic inversions by means of theascending and descending movements of the gasometer, which determinesthe passages ofvwater from one receptacle 26 to the other receptacle 24and reciprocally at the extreme points of arising and descending of thisgasometer and, in consequence, the opening and the closing of the threevalves with hydraulic joint, the bells of which are fixed on the frame.

2. A gasogenefor the fabrication of Watergas, comprising a cupola, agrate 3 for the fuel, a first layer of fireproof material 12 situatedabove the grate, and a second layer of iron, forming a steam-generator,this second- .layer belng situated near the-upper end of the cupola, thestack 10, the neck 11, the necks 8 and 9,'a gasometer 15, for receivingthe gas, a receptacle 26, containing water, a receptacle 24, a flexiblepipe 25 connecting said receptacles, a-beam21, a frame 20 supported fromthe other extremity of said beam, three bells 19 suspended from saidframe and which can be shifted, and which form parts of the valves 18with hydraulic joint, near the necks 8, 9 and 11, constructed to causethe automatic inversions by means of the ascend- The cupola can ing anddescending movements of the gasometer, which determines the passagesofwater from one receptacle 26 to the other receptacle 24 and reciprocallyat the extreme points of arising and descending of this gasometer and,in consequence, the opening and closing uated above the grate, and asecond layerv of iron, forming a steam-generator. this second layerbeing-situated near the-upper end of the cupola, the stack 10, the neck11, the necks 8 and 9, a gasometer 15, for receiving the gas, areceptacle 26, containing water, a receptacle 24, a flexible pipe 25connecting said receptacles, a beam 21, a frame 20 supported from theother extremity of said beam, three bells 19 suspended from the saidframe and which can be shifted and which form parts of the valves 18with hydraulic joint, near the necks 8, 9 and '11, constructed to causethe automatic inversions by means of the ascending and descendingmovements of the gasometer, which determines the passages of water fromone receptacle 26 to the other receptacle 24 and reciprocally at theextreme points of arising and descending of this gasometer and, inconsequence, the opening and the closing of the three valves withhydraulic joint, the bells of which are fixed on the frame and anautomatic temperature-regulator.

4. A gasogene for the fabrication of watergas, comprising a cupola, agrate 3 for the fuel, a first layer of fireproof material 12 situatedabove the grate, and a second layer of iron, forming a steam-generator,this second layer being situated near the upper end of the cupola, thestack 10, the neck 11, the necks 8, and 9, a gasometer 15, for receivingthe gas, a receptacle 26, containing water, a receptacle 24, a flexiblepipe 25 connecting said receptacles, a beam 21 a frame 20 supported fromthe other extremity of said beam, three bells 19 suspended from saidframe and which can be shifted and which form parts of the valves 18with hydraulic joint, near the necks 8, 9 and 11, constructed to causethe automatic inversions by means of the ascending and descendingmovements of the gasometer, which determines the passages of water fromone receptacle 26 to the other receptacle 24 and reciprocally at theextreme points of arising and descending of this gasometer and, inconse-- 5. A gasogene for the fabrication of watergas, comprising acupola, a grate 3 for the fuel, a first layer of fireproof material 12situated above the grate, and a second layer of iron, forming asteam-generator, this second layer being situated near the upper end ofthe cupola, the stack 10, the neck 11. the necks 8 and 9, a gasometer15, for receiving the gas, a receptacle 26, containing water, areceptacle 24, a flexible pipe 25 connecting said receptacles, a beam 21a frame 20 supported from the other extremity of said beam, three bells19 suspended from said frame and which can be shifted and which formparts of the valves 18 with hydraulic joint, near the necks 8, 9 and 11,constructed to cause the automatic inversions by means of the ascendingand descending movements of the gasometer, which determines the passagesof water from one receptacle 26 to the other receptacle 24 andreciprocall y at the extreme points of arising and descending of thisgasometer and, in consequence, the opening and the closing of the threevalves with hydraulic joint, the bells of with by a flexible pipe, apivoted beam carrying said rising and fallingreceptacle, and the bellssuspended from said beam and the hydraulic necks, all arranged andoperating substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

LOUIS GUENOT, FILs. Witnesses:

GEORGE RIeoT, HANsoN C. COKE.

